1968 Topps #259 Ken Boyer
About Ken Boyer
Card 259 is Boyer's lone 1968 Topps card, a third-series base card. It is the only one of his 1960s Topps cards that carries an American League team. The 1967 behind it was a split year: he opened with the Mets, and in late July they traded him to a Chicago White Sox club still chasing the pennant. He hit .261 in 57 games for Chicago and .249 overall, with 7 home runs and 34 RBI in 113 games between the two, and logged 26 games at first base on top of his work at third. On May 10 he singled off Milt Pappas of the Reds for his 2,000th career hit.
Ken Boyer played 15 major league seasons from 1955 to 1969, 11 of them in St. Louis, where he held third base every year but 1957, when he volunteered for center field so a rookie could have the infield job. Signed out of Alba High School in 1949 as a pitcher, he was moved to third in the minors once his bat outran his arm; brothers Cloyd and Clete also reached the majors. He was named to 11 All-Star squads across seven seasons, won five Gold Gloves, captained the Cardinals from 1959, and hit for the cycle twice. His 1964 was the career year: .295 with 185 hits, 24 homers and a league-leading 119 RBI, the National League Most Valuable Player award, and a pennant St. Louis chased down in the final week. In the World Series he hit a Game 4 grand slam off Al Downing and homered again in Game 7, the same game his brother Clete went deep for the Yankees. He finished with 2,143 hits, 282 home runs and a .287 average, managed the Cardinals from 1978 to 1980, and had his number 14 retired in 1984. Never elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, he entered the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014. He died of lung cancer in 1982 at 51.
Sources: Wikipedia · SABR BioProject · Baseball-Reference · Baseball Almanac · Retrosheet
Graded population (PSA & SGC)
| Grader | Total | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 1-4 | Auth |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSA | 274 | 8 | 70 | 105 | 44 | 27 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| SGC | 15 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Graded population — a scarcity guide, not a price. Data as of 2026-09-04. Half grades fold down for both graders (8.5→8); PSA qualified slabs (OC, ST, PD, MC and the like) are not counted. Slabs of the yellow team-letter #49 and #66 are 1968 Milton Bradley game cards and are not counted here.
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Related cards
Team card: #424 Chicago White Sox
More Chicago White Sox cards:
- #8 American League 1967 ERA Leaders
- #14 Jerry McNertney
- #33 Pete Ward
- #51 Bob Locker
- #72 Tommy John
- #99 Rocky Colavito
- #125 Joe Horlen
- #142 White Sox 1968 Rookie Stars
- #172 Walt Williams
- #210 Gary Peters
- #229 Fred Klages
- #265 Tommy Davis
- #287 White Sox 1968 Rookie Stars
- #310 Luis Aparicio
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1968 Topps #259 card?
It is card #259 of the 598-card 1968 Topps Baseball set, picturing Ken Boyer of the Chicago White Sox.
How many cards are in the 1968 Topps Baseball set?
598 cards, tracked as 606 collectible states. The numbers run from 1 to 598 without a gap and no printed number carries two different cards; eight cards - six of the seven checklists, #10 AL Pitching Leaders and #400 Mike McCormick - carry a catalogued print variation that the master set counts separately.
Sources: Trading Card Database, PSA CardFacts, Cardboard Connection, BaseballCardPedia, Baseball Almanac, Beckett, Baseball-Reference, the SABR BioProject and the National Baseball Hall of Fame, PSA & SGC population reports. Card data compiled and maintained by T206Cards.com. Page last updated 2026-10-12.